PROVIDENCE – The Women’s Center of Rhode Island and Crossroads Rhode Island have signed an affiliation to will allow collaborative work to address the connection between domestic violence and homelessness and allow each organization to operate more efficiently.

Both organizations will remain separate nonprofit entities but will pool their resources on things such as marketing and fundraising. The affiliation was signed Feb. 1 and announced Friday.

The move, according to a press release, will allow the organizations to improve accessibility to their services and to become “national leaders in integrating trauma, domestic violence, and homeless services.”

“The affiliation between our organizations will certainly benefit the community as well as those we serve,” said Virginia Branch, president of the Women’s Center of Rhode Island, in a statement. “We see this relationship as a way to enhance the services that we offer and build on the economies of scale that a larger organization can provide.”

Both organizations, according to the press release, recognized that the populations they serve have needs beyond what each can on its own address but that they share goals in helping their clients who have experienced domestic violence to live independently and safely.

The Women’s Center of Rhode Island, a member of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, serves victims of domestic violence. Last year it fielded over 2,800 hotline calls. Crossroads Rhode Island provides care including shelter, transitional and permanent supported housing, case management services, and education and employment services to homeless and at-risk individuals and families. The organization annually serves more than 4,000 residents.

“We are excited about this partnership, which will enable us to collaborate and work together to expand services, improve the delivery and quality of care and broaden access to services for individuals and families who are homeless and have experienced domestic violence,” said Anne Nolan, president of Crossroads Rhode Island, in a statement.

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